TREMBLE

CHAPTER ONE

In the snow, surrounded by wolves, I can still picture myself as a tiny red speck of warmth turning cold. They were pressing in, licking me, biting me, picking at my flesh. Their hunched bodies absorbed the sun's meager heat.

Provided! Their ruffs shimmered with ice, and the shapes their breath created in the air all about us were opacity. I was both pleased and frightened by the musky scent of their coats, which reminded me of wet dogs and burning leaves. Their lips burned my skin; their sloppy fangs tore at my sleeves and tangled in my hair; they pressed on my collarbone; and the pulse in my neck was pushed by their teeth.

I had the option to yell, but I refrained. While I could have fought, I chose not to. I did nothing but lay still and wait as the once-winter-white sky became gray above me.

A shadow formed across my face as one wolf poked his snout into my hand and up against my cheek. While the other wolves jerked me in different directions, his yellow eyes gazed into mine.

I tried my best to hang onto their eyes. Yellow. Additionally, it was wonderfully flecked with every hue of gold and hazel up close. He didn't avert his gaze, which is exactly what I wanted. My arms were stuck to my body, and I wanted to reach out and grab hold of his ruff, but my hands remained curled on my chest.

I was unable to recall what it was like to feel warm.

After that, he vanished, leaving the other wolves to close in too closely and suffocate without him. In my chest, something seemed to flutter.

There was no light and no sun. I was going to pass away. I couldn't recall the color of the sky.

But I survived. I was drowned in a sea of ice before being reborn into a world of warmth.

His bright eyes stick out in my memory.

I believed I wouldn't ever see them again.

They carried the girl into the woods after snatching her off of her tire swing in the backyard; her body left a faint footprint in the snow leading from her world to mine. I witnessed it take place. I failed to halt it.